Schroder Investment Management Group Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,146,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 270,800 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $245,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.08. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, 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 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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).