Naples Money Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,324 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in 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 grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.50. 24,693,029 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,784,156. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $170.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 3.25 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.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).