Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,746 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $1,776,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,921.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,466 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 25,590 shares during the period. Finally, Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 448,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,948,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 4.3 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $46.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $46.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.84.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).