Sapient Capital LLC Invests $923,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,479 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $154,000. Telemus Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 47.4% during the third quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 28,907 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 9,299 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 262,354 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.5% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,352 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.8% during the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 131,033 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 29,311 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. 13,195,563 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).