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

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,743 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during 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. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.28. The company had a trading volume of 15,638,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,227,309. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.41. The stock has a market cap of $174.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).