Synovus Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 376,421 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 12,240 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

VZ stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,363,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,084,547. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $187.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.02.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.08%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % 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 valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).