Asset Planning Inc Makes New $2.31 Million Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 57,752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,310,000. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.8% of Asset Planning Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price 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, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).