324,129 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 324,129 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $12,962,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,015,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 41,924 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,212 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 942,980 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $38,888,000 after buying an additional 84,973 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 642,324 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,489,000 after acquiring an additional 258,683 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.86. The company had a trading volume of 23,986,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,501,982. The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.06 and a 200 day moving average of $41.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).