Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 31,274 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 31,274 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,179,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 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 issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other 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 value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).