Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 337.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,640 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares during the quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in 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. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of 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 boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % 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 valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.40. The company had a trading volume of 27,775,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,542,689. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.07. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $191.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.71.

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).