Level Four Advisory Services LLC Acquires 1,918 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $983,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,153,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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).