Achmea Investment Management B.V. Has $40.05 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 925,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,467 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $404,000. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 804,259 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $36,481,000 after purchasing an additional 9,887 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 400,898 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,185,000 after purchasing an additional 90,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $167.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).