Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,964 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

VZ stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.71. The firm has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).