1,572 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners

Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,572 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).