Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Acquires 788 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,184 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 788 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

VZ stock traded up $0.50 on Thursday, hitting $42.04. 8,065,486 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,151,574. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.21. The stock has a market cap of $176.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).