Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,450,058 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,177,478 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Verizon Communications worth $417,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.38. 15,707,748 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,545,393. The business's 50-day moving average price is $42.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

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).