First Heartland Consultants Inc. Acquires 1,125 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 12,860 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,949 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,756,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $70,239,000 after purchasing an additional 261,401 shares during the period. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 122,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,667,000 after buying an additional 4,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.77 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).