StoneX Group Inc. Purchases 8,919 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

StoneX Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,737 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 8,919 shares during the quarter. StoneX Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,985,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,309,386 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $238,378,000 after buying an additional 404,137 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.7% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 5,247 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.74. 21,874,826 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,563,969. The stock has a market cap of $188.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, 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 current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.10.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued 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 6.06%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).