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

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

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second 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 during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 378.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 74,151 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 555,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after buying an additional 43,116 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 2,762,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $121,421,000 after buying an additional 151,100 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.07.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

VZ opened at $39.53 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.37 and its 200 day moving average is $41.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

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.