Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,167 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $42.45. The stock had a trading volume of 20,435,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,168,231. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average of $42.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. 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 disclosed 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 6.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).