Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 1,452 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,886 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,966,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,157,775. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $167.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.38. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).