7,108 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Invera Wealth Advisors LLC

Invera Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 7,108 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,273,000 after buying an additional 11,987,691 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,509,733,000 after purchasing an additional 8,171,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 339,007,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,607,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910,739 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $40.78. 3,666,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,224,639. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.52%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

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).