N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,037 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.34. The stock had a trading volume of 13,346,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,931,412. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.32 and its 200 day moving average is $38.95.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 6.76%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).