Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 15,066 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,972 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 15,066 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued 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 $47.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $44.09. The stock had a trading volume of 11,870,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,067,044. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $185.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.23.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).