Inlight Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 100,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,011,000. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.3% of Inlight Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 173.9% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 254,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,429,000 after buying an additional 161,559 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,850,000 after purchasing an additional 9,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.05. The firm has a market cap of $180.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).