Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 88.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,440 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,275 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after acquiring an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 149,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,700,000 after acquiring an additional 33,900 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,122,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.7% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,156,000 after purchasing an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.92 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).