Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 3,487 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,487 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $171,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.76. 17,935,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,164,340. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.38. The stock has a market cap of $167.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

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).