Human Investing LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,393 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 151.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,893 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $400,000. Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 294.8% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 376,312 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,049,000 after buying an additional 281,005 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 31,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 6,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.00 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.94 and its 200 day moving average is $41.57. The stock has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).