AJOVista LLC Acquires New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AJOVista LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,734 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.89. 13,195,563 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.32 and a 200-day moving average of $38.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).