Thematics Asset Management Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Thematics Asset Management raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,691 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value 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. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $42.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,714,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,078,555. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.00. The firm has a market cap of $180.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications 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).