Provence Wealth Management Group Buys 1,687 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Provence Wealth Management Group grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. WealthTrust Axiom LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after buying an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

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).