Financial Strategies Group Inc. Purchases 15,385 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 193,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,385 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 1.8% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Management Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management Advisors LLC now owns 121,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 19,170 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 31,239 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 2,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average of $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).