Sei Investments Co. Buys 50,559 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,104,574 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,559 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $124,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth 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 position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.00. The firm has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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 for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.53.

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).