Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC Has $259,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 636 shares during the quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,790,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 199,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,968,000 after purchasing an additional 23,711 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $880,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,488,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $336,294,000 after purchasing an additional 458,021 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).