Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Buys 17,580 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,580 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 38,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $493,000. Summitry LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 122,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,901,000 after acquiring an additional 13,278 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 230,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,202,000 after purchasing an additional 18,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % 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 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $185.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.85 and a 200 day moving average of $42.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

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).