Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Raised by ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC

ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,774 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 676 shares during the quarter. ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $632,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Simmons Bank grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 156,519 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $374,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 392.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,510 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 25,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 11,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.48. The company had a trading volume of 10,079,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,741,629. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $166.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).