Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Has $1.34 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,345 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day moving average is $41.57. The company has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).