Rothschild Capital Partners LLC Takes $206,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rothschild Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 509,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,393,000 after purchasing an additional 50,184 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 87,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,513,000 after buying an additional 2,949 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 200,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,285,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $171,392,000 after acquiring an additional 14,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 64,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 4,683 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,085 shares of company stock worth $2,233,295. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.63 and its 200-day moving average is $41.99. The firm has a market cap of $180.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).