Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by CapWealth Advisors LLC

CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 341,788 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,179 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 1.6% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during 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 lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $39.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,187,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,556,172. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41.

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, 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 business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).