6,634 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Impact Capital Partners LLC

Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $158,000. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 26,929 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 112,009 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 19,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 2,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Eleven equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).