Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC Buys 2,910 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,244 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the period. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $218,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,053 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 504,515 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,933,000 after acquiring an additional 6,058 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.3 %

VZ traded up $0.91 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.59. The company had a trading volume of 3,374,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,940,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.61. The company has a market cap of $170.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).