Logan Capital Management Inc. Buys 6,924 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Logan Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,972 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

VZ opened at $43.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $184.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.98.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).