Bar Harbor Wealth Management Acquires 2,301 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 167,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 89,409 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,035,553 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $81,849,000 after acquiring an additional 111,106 shares during the last quarter. MontVue Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. MontVue Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,530 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $67,060,000 after acquiring an additional 186,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).