Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1,804.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 209,716 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.59. 7,618,138 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,001,922. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).