Clear Creek Financial Management LLC Has $1.52 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,109 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares during the quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,511,000 after acquiring an additional 55,411 shares during the period. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $318,000. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 418,526 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,796,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day moving average is $41.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).