Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,641 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,333,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $55,783,000 after buying an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted 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. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of VZ traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.24. 4,439,409 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,116,540. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.17. 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 $182.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).