KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 16,800 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,977,024 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $89,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,473,557,000 after buying an additional 990,775 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.14. 20,377,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,219,703. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $181.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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).