Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Acquires 29,670 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,440 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 29,670 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.08. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.