111 Capital Invests $614,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,358 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,327,633 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $53,092,000 after buying an additional 276,891 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 813,067 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $32,515,000 after buying an additional 56,382 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $113,950,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $1,528,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 31,319 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $43.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,959,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,147,661. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.56 and a 200-day moving average of $42.18.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted 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. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted 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. Nine investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).