BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 806,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 103,749 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $32,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.08. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).