Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. Has $3.04 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,008 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 43,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 55,556 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.12 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).