Focus Partners Wealth Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 759,869 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 156,485 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $31,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,062,347 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $42,483,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 32,586 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 912,730 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $36,500,000 after purchasing an additional 55,206 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,671 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, hitting $42.80. 2,259,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,094,141. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).