World Investment Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,537 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 35,010 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,401 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,190,000 after purchasing an additional 29,663 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 102,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,620,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,856,315 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $83,367,000 after buying an additional 19,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Verizon Communications by 74.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,012 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.82.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.74 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $188.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).