Ameriflex Group Inc. Invests $562,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 14,278 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. United Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 48,979 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $395,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 154,102 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $301,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $4,415,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.50. 12,862,291 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,187,579. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $43.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).