Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $22.40 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 546,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,849 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.83. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $46.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).