Auto Owners Insurance Co Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 378.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 37,967 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).

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