Life Planning Partners Inc Invests $2.62 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 65,541 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $2,621,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 183,305 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,232,000 after purchasing an additional 20,900 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 124,094 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the period. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.9% during the 3rd quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 11,491 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,294 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank upgraded 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 reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.40. 27,775,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,542,689. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $191.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).