Summit Financial LLC Purchases 20,214 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 20,214 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.38. 15,707,748 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,545,393. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.08. The firm has a market cap of $191.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 5.97%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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).