Allen Capital Group LLC Has $2.85 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Allen Capital Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 75,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,498 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,012,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,711,529. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).