ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Has $13.95 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 369,936 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 2.1% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. The stock had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.79. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS 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 business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications 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 transaction of $604,950.00. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).