Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 2,742 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 130,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,742 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,091,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.77 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.62. The firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).