Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New $16.59 Million Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 417,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $16,593,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.62. 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 market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% 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).