California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.6% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.50% of Verizon Communications worth $915,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hudock Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $175.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).