Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Raised by Accel Wealth Management

Accel Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,712 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.95. 19,763,083 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,343,715. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).