Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $5.56 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,593 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 21,250 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth 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. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.32 and its 200-day moving average is $42.21.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).

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