Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Lifted by Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,061,647 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 78,464 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 3.5% of Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. owned 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $202,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,718,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,554,154. The company has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.08.

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 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).