30,002 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Axis Wealth Partners LLC

Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 30,002 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.0% of Axis Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $46.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.83.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).