Capital Research Global Investors Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 52.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $792,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,473,557,000 after purchasing an additional 990,775 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.01. 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 company has a market cap of $185.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).