Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 316.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,974 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 174,769 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.68. The company had a trading volume of 30,139,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,133,744. The company has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $43.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.02. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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).