Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 770,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 8,495 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $34,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, 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 hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.62. 10,301,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,121,261. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 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. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).