Banco Santander S.A. Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 208.6% in the first quarter, acquiring 53,821 shares to own a total of 79,624 shares valued at approximately $3.61 million.
• Several institutional investors, including BridgePort Financial Solutions and Rempart Asset Management, also raised their stakes in Verizon, indicating a growing interest in the company among hedge funds.
• Verizon reported $1.22 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 5.2% increase in revenue compared to the previous year, with a current analyst consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 208.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,624 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 53,821 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 211.0% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 19,961 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 13,543 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 55.8% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,334,722 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $60,543,000 after buying an additional 478,090 shares during the period. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 14,925 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 40,641 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 1,769 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.6%

VZ stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.70. 14,855,582 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,938,266. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

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).