Fusion Capital LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fusion Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Fusion Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 44,802 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 178,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,155,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 30,146 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 8,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6,475.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 444,969 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $17,794,000 after acquiring an additional 438,202 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.21 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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).