Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Principle Wealth Partners LLC

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 52,492 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 31,062 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.21.

Read Our Latest Research Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

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Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

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).

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