Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 818,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 99,403 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $30,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5 %

VZ stock opened at $39.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $166.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).