Telos Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 262.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 17,737 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after purchasing an additional 930,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,829,675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.77 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $38.17. The company has a market cap of $167.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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).