Waterfront Wealth Inc. Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Waterfront Wealth Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 990 shares during the quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,127,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,482,701. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

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).