Martin Worley Group Purchases Shares of 5,023 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Martin Worley Group acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,083,337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of VZ opened at $44.74 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).