Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Blue Chip Partners LLC

Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 70.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,142 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares during the quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 930,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,226,000 after purchasing an additional 49,619 shares in the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 43,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 151.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 6,893 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. 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).