PGGM Investments Buys New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

PGGM Investments bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $158,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.01 and a 200-day moving average of $41.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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).