MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Takes $589,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $39.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,854,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,754,469. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.32 and a 200 day moving average of $38.95. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).