Zions Bancorporation N.A. Purchases 18,427 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,172 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 18,427 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.7% of Zions Bancorporation N.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Zions Bancorporation N.A.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $4,346,682,000 after acquiring an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group raised their price target on 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 upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $43.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,480,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,358,512. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $182.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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).