Rahlfs Capital LLC Makes New $591,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rahlfs Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,789 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $591,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,488 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 242,280 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,689,000 after purchasing an additional 18,115 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,088.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 73,168 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 67,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 5.5 %

VZ opened at $43.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.11. The company has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 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. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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).