Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $4.06 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 178.3% in Q1, holding $4.06 million worth of the stock.
• Several large investors have also augmented their positions in Verizon, with institutional investors owning 62.06% of the company's stock.
• Verizon reported earnings of $1.22 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 with a yield of 6.3%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 178.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 89,600 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 57,400 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective 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. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.84 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $180.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).

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