Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.35 on Thursday, reaching $40.13. The stock had a trading volume of 17,485,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,634,758. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $168.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.17.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

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).