Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Strategic Advisors LLC

Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 6,562 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $561,105,000 after purchasing an additional 46,100 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $42.49. The stock had a trading volume of 19,757,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,033,547. 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 firm has a market cap of $178.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).