Accredited Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,266 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,266 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $326,000. AlTi Global Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 264,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,572,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares during the period. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $402,000. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV now owns 16,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 37,925 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.74 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,298,440. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).