California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 92,706 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,963,751 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 92,706 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.36% of Verizon Communications worth $598,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $45.40. 27,775,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,542,689. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.71.

About Verizon Communications

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).