Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 930,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,619 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.58. The company has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).