Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC Buys 2,155 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $306,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.77. 14,016,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,262,630. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.16.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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).