Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.92 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.57 and a 200 day moving average of $42.23. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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).