Accredited Wealth Management LLC Makes New $91,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,266 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,500 shares of company stock worth $1,298,440. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $184.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).