Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases 71,216 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 340,605 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,216 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,322,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,504 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after buying an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.07.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.37 and a 200-day moving average of $41.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.