Scissortail Wealth Management LLC Purchases 25,382 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 25,382 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.5% of Scissortail Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.78. 14,015,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,711,529. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $167.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).

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