Principle Wealth Partners LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $4,333,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,691 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,201 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $181,000. Finally, MBA Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 15,781 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).