Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,598 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,781,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 46,871 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 83,956 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.46 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.04. The stock has a market cap of $182.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).