Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,748 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $652,000. St. Louis Trust Co increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 6,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 59,620 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 33,161 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.5 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.49. The stock had a trading volume of 20,216,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $166.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).