MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Boosts Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 994,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,162 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $39,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 25,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 6,059 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 31,833 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 5,265 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 48,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).