Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,619 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,650 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in 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 fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.21 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $173.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.58%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).