Curio Wealth LLC Takes $85,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,129 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,245,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,803,000 after buying an additional 154,789 shares during the last quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 41,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,000. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 146,376 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,854,000 after acquiring an additional 5,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % 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 worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.93. 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 stock has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).