MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Has $39.78 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 994,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,162 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $39,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $179.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).