Premier Fund Managers Ltd Acquires 57,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 238,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 57,000 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $983,445,000 after buying an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $44.99 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $189.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.07.

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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

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).