Cullen Investment Group LTD. Has $7.80 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,856 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 11,037 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.2% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related 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 transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $43.30. The stock had a trading volume of 9,959,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,147,661. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.18. The company has a market capitalization of $182.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

About Verizon Communications

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).