DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Has $193.83 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 419.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $193,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,085,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,729,049. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.84.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).