HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 586,114 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,895,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 586,114 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Verizon Communications worth $235,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 6.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.51 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).

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