Opinicus Capital Inc. Acquires 545 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Opinicus Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,887 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.1% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $224,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.2% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 131,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,915,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 241,045 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,825,000 after buying an additional 17,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is 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).