Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,452,774 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 10,099 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $65,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price 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. Finally, 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 report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.63. The company had a trading volume of 20,156,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,246,153. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $175.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).