Sherman Asset Management Inc. Makes New $112,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,811 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $112,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 741,090 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $29,636,000 after buying an additional 11,680 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 12,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 30,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 7,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications 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).