Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,576 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,576 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Burney Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E 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 current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.72.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value 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. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).