Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 0.9% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after buying an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after buying an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,509,733,000 after buying an additional 8,171,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 339,007,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,607,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910,739 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.57 and its 200-day moving average is $37.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $176.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 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 Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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).