Proficio Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 64.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LVZ Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 17,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 7,622 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,152,184 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $126,056,000 after purchasing an additional 116,313 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $497,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 197,496 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after buying an additional 3,050 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.63 and a 200-day moving average of $42.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).