Master S Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Master S Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $425,000. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.2% of Master S Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.01. 16,479,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,166,780. 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 company has a market capitalization of $185.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.04. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).