Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.64% of Verizon Communications worth $14,549,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $3,376,000. Burney Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 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 Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,858,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,343,427. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $41.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.02. 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 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $182.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. 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 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).