Sava Infond d.o.o. Invests $320,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.71.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications 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 value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.96. 19,526,803 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,509,713. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.08. The company has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 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 6.03%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).