Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by MBA Advisors LLC

MBA Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,781 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the quarter. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

VZ opened at $39.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.55.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is 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).