Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $5,985,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,309,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $238,378,000 after purchasing an additional 404,137 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $45.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.36 and a 200-day moving average of $42.08. The stock has a market cap of $191.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

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).