49 Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,881 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

49 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,881 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.63. 3,766,273 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,152,371. The company has a market cap of $183.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.15. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).