Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,419 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $224,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.2% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,213,320 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $54,490,000 after buying an additional 15,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were 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 owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $168.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $40.36 and a 200 day moving average of $41.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).