abrdn plc Buys 549,800 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

abrdn plc raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,948,215 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 549,800 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $186,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.49. 24,706,520 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,407,915. The company has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.56 and a 200 day moving average of $38.24.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).