Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 33,128 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,325,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,500 shares of company stock worth $979,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.20 on Monday, reaching $43.55. 3,514,141 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,118,296. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.95. 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 cap of $183.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer increased 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. DZ Bank upgraded 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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).