Kendall Capital Management Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kendall Capital Management grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 549 shares during the quarter. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $46.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $46.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).