NewEdge Advisors LLC Purchases 33,845 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 590,590 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 33,845 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $23,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,479,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,166,753. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $185.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

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).