Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes $6.60 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 164,916 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $6,595,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $481,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.7% in the third quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,859 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,768,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,216,193. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $170.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).