Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $4.53 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 253.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,117 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,177 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third 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. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $176.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.57 and its 200-day moving average is $37.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).