California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 92,706 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,963,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,706 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.36% of Verizon Communications worth $598,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 183,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,232,000 after buying an additional 20,900 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 124,094 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 173.9% in the 3rd quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 11,491 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,294 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $251,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.0 %

VZ stock opened at $44.96 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week 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 has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.08.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

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).