Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 14,866 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.6% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $181.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.27%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).