National Pension Service Has $394.92 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,875,465 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 649,251 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $394,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $184.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.67. 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 twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).