Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 200,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,473,557,000 after buying an additional 990,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,233,295. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. 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 company has a market capitalization of $180.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Company 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).