Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,602 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $463,000.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.
NYSE VZ traded down $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.63. 49,636,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,263,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.
In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.
VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.11.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on 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).
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