Rossby Financial LCC Makes New $576,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,413 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

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Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.06 and a 200-day moving average of $42.02. 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 $183.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % 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 valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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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