Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Flaharty Asset Management LLC

Flaharty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,652 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.3 %

VZ traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $40.58. 4,308,069 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,960,943. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Company 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).