Bar Harbor Wealth Management Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 149,873 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,183 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. New Millennium Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,896.8% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 18,004 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $531,000. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,467 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after buying an additional 6,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

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).