Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Makes New $531,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $174.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average is $37.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

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).