Forum Financial Management LP Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,476 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 25,430 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased 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 period. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased 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 buying an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.11. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $182.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

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).