Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after buying an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.4 %

VZ opened at $42.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.51 and a 200-day moving average of $41.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

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).