Cheviot Value Management LLC Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cheviot Value Management LLC decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,463 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,258 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).

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