Mission Wealth Management LP Has $2.28 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mission Wealth Management LP lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,352 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,191 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.7% during the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.8% in the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.77. 3,438,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,380,434. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for 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 forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).