Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 105,556 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $4,221,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 676,740 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $27,063,000 after buying an additional 5,618 shares in the last quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $715,000. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC now owns 133,469 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,337,000 after acquiring an additional 18,081 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $4,011,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.92.

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Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.47. 21,787,347 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,171,746. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 $187.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.02.

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 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 period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 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).