Sava Infond d.o.o. Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $3,376,000. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

VZ opened at $44.99 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $189.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

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).