Demars Financial Group LLC Has $24.85 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3,701.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 621,472 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 605,122 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $44.01. 16,479,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,166,753. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company's 50-day moving average price is $43.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.03.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.92.

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).