Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,665 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.67. The company has a market cap of $168.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Six investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

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).