Accurate Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,904 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 63,854 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 29,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the third quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 27,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the third quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 6,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 6,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total transaction of $228,431.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,672.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $36.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $55.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 24.60% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 51.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Tigress Financial cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Profile

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.