Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Purchases 87,227 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703,923 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,227 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.9% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,827,584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $59,234,000 after purchasing an additional 246,475 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 110,834 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,592,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 216,117 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 32,653 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 7,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 41,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.03. 5,425,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,509,699. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.02. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $168.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).