HB Wealth Management LLC Buys 25,603 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. by 15.9% in the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $8.45 million.
• Verizon's recent earnings report showed a profit of $1.22 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and resulting in a revenue of $34.5 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, translating to an annual yield of 6.29%.

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,190 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 25,603 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

VZ traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.78. The stock had a trading volume of 4,462,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,962,496. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).