Achmea Investment Management B.V. Has $37.34 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 823,139 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,906 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 27,523 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 14,710 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 28,485 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $121,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $177.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

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).