Edmp Inc. Has $1.84 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Edmp Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.7% of Edmp Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Edmp Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 20,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,229 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 679,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,511,000 after buying an additional 3,177 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the 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 owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $168.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).