Modern Wealth Management LLC Buys 4,377 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,377 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Burney Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. 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 6.24%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

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).