Master S Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Master S Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $425,000. Verizon Communications makes up 0.2% of Master S Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 26,642 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Finward Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $620,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 568.3% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,273 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 29,995 shares during the period. Finally, CacheTech Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 16,334 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $44.01. 16,479,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,148,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.46 and a 200-day moving average of $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).