LRI Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,236 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.65 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.74 and a 200 day moving average of $41.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).