Abundance Wealth Counselors Acquires 7,777 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Abundance Wealth Counselors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,037 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,777 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.6% of Abundance Wealth Counselors' holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Abundance Wealth Counselors' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.23. The company has a market cap of $175.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.