Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. Has $866,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,660 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the quarter. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank increased 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 report on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.96 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.08. The company has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).