RKL Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 47,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 19,880 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,701 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,628,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 191.0% in the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,259 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 29,924 shares in the last quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 23,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 45,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 4.3 %

VZ stock opened at $46.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $46.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.83.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).