Premier Fund Managers Ltd Acquires 57,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 57,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $44.96. The company had a trading volume of 19,526,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,509,713. 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 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $42.11 and its 200-day moving average is $42.08.

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 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).