Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 25,179 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 337.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,640 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.08. 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) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).