International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gratus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $296,000. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $5,014,000. Bray Capital Advisors boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 9,739 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9,461.5% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 613,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,882,000 after purchasing an additional 607,051 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 828,916 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,865,000 after purchasing an additional 71,807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

VZ stock opened at $39.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).