Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,875,465 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 649,251 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of Verizon Communications worth $394,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 99.7% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 58,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 29,430 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 151.9% during the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 10,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 506.3% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 84,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,543,000 after purchasing an additional 70,675 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $184.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.67. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).