Stonebrook Private Inc. Invests $1.49 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 39,587 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. SOL Capital Management CO boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 11,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 26,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 30,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. The stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.56. The company has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).