K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Purchases New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Activity

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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.51. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS 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 net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).