Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Boosted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,504,402 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,976 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $68,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $184.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).