Aviso Financial Inc. Acquires 9,420 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aviso Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 9,420 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 11,962 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $536,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,313,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $103,911,000 after purchasing an additional 299,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 11,495 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.91. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).