11,453 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Gitterman Wealth Management LLC

Gitterman Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,453 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 126.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 11,962 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 881,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,578,000 after buying an additional 53,103 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,126 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after buying an additional 21,037 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 9,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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 business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).