Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Buys 26,600 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,604,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,600 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $70,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 74,151 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 555,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,427,000 after buying an additional 43,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 2,762,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $121,421,000 after buying an additional 151,100 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.07.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.37 and its 200 day moving average is $41.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.