Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Boosted by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,801,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.91 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.64 and a 200-day moving average of $41.96. The company has a market capitalization of $179.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,085 shares of company stock worth $1,422,495. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).