Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Bar Harbor Wealth Management

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 658.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,361,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,766 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $306,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.49 and its 200-day moving average is $37.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

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).