Waverly Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 76.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 250,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,516 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.63 and a 200 day moving average of $42.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 6.13%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).