Meridian Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 56,543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 10,959 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 36,935 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 321,382 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,852,000 after purchasing an additional 11,151 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,078,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).