Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.69 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 67,597 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,161 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4 %

VZ stock opened at $44.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a PEG 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).