Xponance Inc. Has $22.43 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 594,918 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,530 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $540,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756,222 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.13. 17,497,914 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,634,758. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.17. The company has a market cap of $168.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).