South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 56,384 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,208 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,384 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after buying an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.69. 25,970,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,270,385. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average of $38.44. The stock has a market cap of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).