Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $8.81 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 233,720 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,371 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.96. 1,530,719 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,531,672. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $168.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

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).