Fiduciary Group LLC Has $5.21 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,132 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. The stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).