11,474 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Advyzon Investment Management LLC

Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,474 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.77. The company had a trading volume of 18,532,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,809,768. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).