State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 14,589 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,384,159 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,589 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $89,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third 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 purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,245,309 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,159,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).