FFT Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FFT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,154 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 99.7% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 58,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,647,000 after buying an additional 29,430 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 151.9% in the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 10,892 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 506.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 84,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,543,000 after buying an additional 70,675 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $40.01 and a 200-day moving average of $41.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).