Capital Management Associates Inc Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,062 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 4,360 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $815,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 546,162 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $22,396,000 after buying an additional 21,849 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications 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 value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE VZ traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $42.80. 21,991,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,139,095. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.31. The stock has a market cap of $180.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, 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 yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.25.

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).