Axa S.A. Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,464,774 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 83,944 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $58,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,037 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,966,661 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,590,000 after purchasing an additional 731,828 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 65,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $979,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.99. The stock had a trading volume of 4,678,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,078,617. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.97.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.6775 dividend. 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 6.16%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).