Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Raised by Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc.

Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 104.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,086 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,738 shares during the quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $14,181,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,304,000. Crossingbridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $400,000. Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 84,406 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,530 shares during the period. Finally, Hayek Kallen Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 103,349 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

VZ traded up $0.48 during trading on Monday, hitting $42.39. The company had a trading volume of 16,173,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,142,941. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-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 $181.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.65 and a 200-day moving average of $41.95.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,085 shares of company stock worth $1,422,495. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

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).