Rockline Wealth Management LLC Invests $1.72 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 45,709 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 61.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $40.52. The stock had a trading volume of 21,850,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,571,281. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.35 and a 200 day moving average of $37.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Verizon Communications 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).