Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Boosted by TFB Advisors LLC

TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 453 shares during the quarter. TFB Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a PEG 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).