6,203 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Hall Capital Management Co. Inc.

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

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $4,333,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $1,200,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over 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 company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of VZ traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.17. The stock had a trading volume of 12,764,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,158,023. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $182.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock's 50 day moving average is $43.59 and its 200 day moving average is $42.16.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).