Shufro Rose & Co. LLC Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,803 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. 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 $167.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).