Everett Harris & Co. CA Buys 8,393 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 582,206 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,393 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,511,000 after buying an additional 55,411 shares during the period. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $318,000. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 418,526 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,796,000 after acquiring an additional 4,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).