Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,516,099 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 445,690 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $60,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target 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, Oppenheimer lifted 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.12. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.25%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 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).

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