Michels Family Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.50. 12,859,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,187,525. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.15. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 market capitalization of $183.41 billion, a P/E 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications 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).