54,399 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by U S Wealth Group LLC.

U S Wealth Group LLC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 54,399 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,175,000. Verizon Communications comprises 1.6% of U S Wealth Group LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 11,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 101,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,553,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.9% during the third quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 7,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 5.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.68 and a 200-day moving average of $42.09. The company has a market cap of $181.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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).