Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Abbrea Capital LLC

Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 538 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $39.22. The stock had a trading volume of 16,600,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,182,977. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).