Allstate Corp Invests $4.99 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 124,708 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,227,510 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,088,000 after buying an additional 42,599 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 155,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,226,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 164,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

VZ opened at $44.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.11 and a 200-day moving average of $42.09. 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. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).