Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 36,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,677,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after purchasing an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.13. 22,343,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,075,644. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).