Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.29. The company has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. 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 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).