SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Acquires 13,641 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,619 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 13,641 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $41.95. The stock had a trading volume of 19,763,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,343,715. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

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).