State of Michigan Retirement System Buys 900 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,215,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.9% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. State of Michigan Retirement System owned approximately 0.20% of Verizon Communications worth $344,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,602,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $362,027,000 after buying an additional 341,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.10. 21,656,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,928,711. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.09. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $173.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

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).