Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 20,610 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $82,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % 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 valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

VZ traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $44.24. The stock had a trading volume of 9,763,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,095,572. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $43.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.92.

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).