Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 6,331 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,331 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $43.30. 9,959,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,147,661. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $182.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $43.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 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).