Ballast Inc. Has $635,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ballast Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

VZ opened at $41.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

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).