bLong Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,033,000. Verizon Communications comprises 0.9% of bLong Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).