Pensionfund Sabic Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.16 on Monday, reaching $40.10. The stock had a trading volume of 4,669,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,577,871. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.86. The stock has a market cap of $168.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.56 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.76%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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 target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).