Campbell Wealth Management Has $229,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Campbell Wealth Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,310,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 76,725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,551 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 24,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palacios Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $609,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.99 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).