Bogart Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 192,978 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,254 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,801,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $175.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).

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