Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys 17,143 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 272.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,446 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 17,143 shares during the quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.96. 13,542,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,119,200. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).