Exchange Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $283,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 5,224 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,691 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 7,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $184.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company 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).