Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Acquires 795 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 892,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,687,000 after purchasing an additional 36,700 shares in the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 80,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. BBR Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 9,384 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 490,299 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 39,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.79.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).