Sava Infond d.o.o. Makes New $320,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.98 and its 200 day moving average is $42.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $189.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

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).