Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,911 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target 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, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.85. The company had a trading volume of 11,347,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,088,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.53 and its 200-day moving average is $38.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

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).