Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Derbend Asset Management

Derbend Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the quarter. Derbend Asset Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.84. 18,195,440 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,184,170. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $180.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

About Verizon Communications

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).