Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Perennial Investment Advisors LLC

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,488 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $43.11 on Friday. 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 market cap of $181.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.68 and a 200-day moving average of $42.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).