Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,231 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after acquiring an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,231 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 11,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 43,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $46.20.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications 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).