Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,961 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE VZ opened at $41.61 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.36 and its 200-day moving average is $42.23. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $175.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).

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