Summit Financial LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Summit Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,214 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during 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 purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of VZ opened at $45.40 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).