Tower Bridge Advisors Acquires 1,033 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tower Bridge Advisors increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.20 and its 200 day moving average is $41.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).