Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Flossbach Von Storch SE

Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 310,705 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 59,487 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,037 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 147,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,879,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 6,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $459,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,501,426 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $60,042,000 after acquiring an additional 60,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.77. 18,532,100 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,809,768. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $39.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company 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).