Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases 154,789 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,245,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 154,789 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $49,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).