Xponance Inc. Acquires 39,530 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 594,918 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,530 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.13. The stock had a trading volume of 17,497,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,634,758. 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 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $168.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).