Aigen Investment Management LP Sells 5,855 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aigen Investment Management LP lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,071 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 5,855 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 50,414 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 18,452 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,221,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 228,684 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $9,145,000 after buying an additional 5,215 shares during the period. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 147,052 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.12 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $181.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).

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