Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Increased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 286,867 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 1,912 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,053 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 504,515 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,933,000 after acquiring an additional 6,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,838,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,158,041. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications 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).