Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Invests $501,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,522 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third 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 grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.04 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $176.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.89 and a 200 day moving average of $41.58. 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 earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).