Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Buys 3,682 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,682 shares during the quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $307,000. Acas LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 554,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,897,000 after buying an additional 10,018 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 333,208 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,562,000 after buying an additional 56,384 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased 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. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,942,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. The company has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Verizon Communications Company 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).