Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Acquires New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,203 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $477,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $562,000. United Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $395,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 154,102 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $6,163,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.50. 12,862,291 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,187,579. 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 $183.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.15.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during 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, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).