Napatree Capital LLC Has $233,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Napatree Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.06 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.01. The firm has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.53.

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).