Evanson Asset Management LLC Takes $234,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Evanson Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.95. 19,763,083 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,343,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

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).