TFG Advisers LLC Buys 2,948 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,948 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).