United Bank Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

United Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised 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 last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during 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 topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.96 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average of $42.08. The firm has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 in the previous year, the company 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 Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio 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 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 directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).