Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Purchases 807 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,738 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.83. The stock had a trading volume of 9,288,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,586,301. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during 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 for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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).