3,456 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by IMG Wealth Management Inc.

IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,456 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 25,227,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $983,445,000 after purchasing an additional 6,153,408 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $177,799,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).