Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1%, acquiring an additional 93,548 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 4.55 million shares valued at $206.6 million by the end of the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors also significantly boosted their holdings in Verizon, with Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing its stake by 737.5%, now owning over 11.69 million shares worth $530.6 million.
• Verizon recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, which represents a 6.3% dividend yield, adding to its appeal among income-focused investors.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,554,576 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 93,548 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.11% of Verizon Communications worth $206,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the 4th 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 worth $1,555,351,000 after buying an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

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 value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.84 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

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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