Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 823,139 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 165,906 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 27,523 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 14,710 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 28,485 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $121,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $177.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.21. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. 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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