Truvestments Capital LLC Has $3.06 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $106,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 57,694 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,723 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,391 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 615,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,631,000 after acquiring an additional 5,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,895,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $235,761,000 after acquiring an additional 586,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).