Certior Financial Group LLC Invests $650,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 11,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 101,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.9% during the third quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 7,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. 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 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.11 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 capitalization of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.09.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).