Armis Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 19,605 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Armis Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 19,605 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,100,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $248,000. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $477,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $562,000. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 48,979 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.18 during mid-day 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. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.15. The firm has a market cap of $183.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).