Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 100.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.02. The company has a market capitalization of $183.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).