Wynn Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wynn Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. 15,942,031 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.52 and a 200-day moving average of $38.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. 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 note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).