Concord Asset Management LLC VA Buys 7,521 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 36.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,939 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 7,521 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings 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. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective 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. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $41.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,957,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,235,128. The company has a market capitalization of $173.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 3.31 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).