U S Wealth Group LLC. Buys 64,708 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

U S Wealth Group LLC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 64,708 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,000. Verizon Communications makes up 1.7% of U S Wealth Group LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 62,101,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,117,471,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289,877 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 41,173,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,743,274,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,794 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 32,734,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,643,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,634 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,882,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $884,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305,471 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,374,198 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $621,185,000 after acquiring an additional 820,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.50 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Arete Research lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.05.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $50,721.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,666 shares in the company, valued at $4,457,269.26. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $567,094. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,859,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,035,368. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.68 and a 52 week high of $51.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.19%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc. is a telecommunications company that provides wireless and wireline communications services in the United States. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, broadband internet, and related services for consumers, businesses, and government customers. The company operates a nationwide wireless network and provides home internet through fiber-optic service, including Fios, and fixed wireless access. For business and public-sector customers, Verizon offers connectivity, networking, security, and Internet of Things services.