1,960,224 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,960,224 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $78,389,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $2,790,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 199,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,968,000 after purchasing an additional 23,711 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $880,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,488,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $336,294,000 after purchasing an additional 458,021 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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 period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).