Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Has $1.85 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,056 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,134 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.87. 14,928,374 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,133,135. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).