UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $1.56 Billion Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,555,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $357,398,000 after acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.30 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).