Intrepid Capital Management Inc. Purchases 2,024 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Intrepid Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the period. Intrepid Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 100,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after buying an additional 2,622 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,377,000. Finally, OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,107,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.38 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.36 and its 200 day moving average is $42.08. The company has a market cap of $191.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).