Northstar Advisory Group LLC Has $472,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares during the quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.21. The firm has a market cap of $176.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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).