Phocas Financial Corp. Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MCIA Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 46,313 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 11,911 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 3,959 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 28,673 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 13,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,845,000. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $36.79 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.55 and a fifty-two week high of $55.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6525 dividend. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 6,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $228,431.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,672.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Get Rating)

Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.