38,213 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Northstar Financial Companies Inc.

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 38,213 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,528,000. Verizon Communications comprises 1.4% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 17,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 49,084 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $332,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Verizon Communications by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,345,439 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $53,804,000 after buying an additional 387,309 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $43.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,959,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,147,661. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.17. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).