Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Invests $4.33 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 108,358 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $4,333,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

VZ traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,366,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,105,994. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $169.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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).