5,595 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Blankinship & Foster LLC

Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,595 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 4.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $46.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.82.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).