Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,575 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 15,696 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.8% of Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Lazari Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.8% in the first quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,851 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,032,000 after acquiring an additional 5,401 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 45,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 11,360 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 45,101 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,444 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,048,962 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $92,941,000 after buying an additional 92,648 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of VZ opened at $42.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.28 and a 200 day moving average of $42.21. The company has a market cap of $178.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).

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