Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Scissortail Wealth Management LLC

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 26,635.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,478 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 107,076 shares during the period. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.89. 5,036,434 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,124,560. The firm's fifty day moving average is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.07. The company has a market capitalization of $185.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications 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).