Spring Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,870 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spring Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,453 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,870 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.2% of Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 48,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,838,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Reitz Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Reitz Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,545 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,291 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 12,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158,561 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,978,000 after buying an additional 10,489 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.60 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.31. The company has a market capitalization of $174.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

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).