National Pension Service Purchases 164,567 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,806,891 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 164,567 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Verizon Communications worth $294,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,152,461 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $36,856,000 after acquiring an additional 153,485 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 43,139 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $521,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,827,584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $59,234,000 after acquiring an additional 246,475 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

VZ stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,878,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,660,254. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).