7,486 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Alteri Wealth LLC

Alteri Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,091 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 86,503 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 40,113 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $683,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,464,774 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $58,576,000 after purchasing an additional 83,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 30,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,298,440 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $184.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.96. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).