Strategic Blueprint LLC Has $1.51 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP grew its position in Verizon Communications by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,532,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $893,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.25 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $169.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).