Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 473.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 236,232 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 195,067 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.8% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Burney Co. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.67. The stock had a trading volume of 17,425,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,179,350. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, 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 last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eleven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.11.

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).