Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Capital Wealth Planning LLC

Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,649,073 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 456,113 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 2.8% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Verizon Communications worth $305,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 741,090 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,636,000 after acquiring an additional 11,680 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 12,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 30,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,974,000 after buying an additional 7,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.12 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.71. The company has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).