Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Buys 17,580 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,580 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,781,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $210,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 23,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.6 %

VZ stock opened at $44.18 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).