Assetmark Inc. Buys 62,277 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0%, acquiring an additional 62,277 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $145.8 million.
• Verizon reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.22, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $34.5 billion, marking a 5.2% increase year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, which corresponds to an annualized dividend yield of 6.29%.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,214,461 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 62,277 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $145,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,555,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $43.10. 16,557,678 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,882,436. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

About Verizon Communications

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).