Stokes Family Office LLC Purchases 6,787 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,787 shares during the quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.22 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. 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 company has a market cap of $186.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).