Personal CFO Solutions LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,183 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 0.6% of Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after buying an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 4.3 %

VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $46.20.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).