Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. Has $4.12 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,143 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 30,893 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 2.8% of Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Barclays lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

VZ traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.10. The company had a trading volume of 19,838,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,158,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $168.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).