White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 134.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,364 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 24,267 shares during the quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 19,481 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 4,877 shares during the period. RoundAngle Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $1,145,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,494 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,480,000 after purchasing an additional 36,704 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $434,000. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 10,666 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of 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 represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.77. 16,035,176 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,174,317. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $184.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during 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%. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).