Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 903,480 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 72,230 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.25.

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 dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

VZ traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.62. 10,301,320 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,121,261. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.26. The firm has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).