Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 77.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,997 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after purchasing an additional 930,367 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,446,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015,139 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,455,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

VZ opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $166.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications 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).