Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 3,091 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,682 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,091 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $181.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.10. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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).