Portfolio Design Labs LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,851 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $387,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Reik & CO. LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Reik & CO. LLC now owns 12,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Edmp Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 45,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Republic Capital LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s 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).