Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Scissortail Wealth Management LLC

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 122,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,382 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 1.5% of Scissortail Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after buying an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.34 on Tuesday, hitting $39.78. 14,015,964 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,711,529. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

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).