19,266 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Bought by Denver PWM LLC

Key Points

• Denver PWM LLC acquired 19,266 shares of Verizon Communications, valued at approximately $874,000, indicating ongoing interest from institutional investors.
• CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon, reducing his ownership by 47.35%, while insiders collectively hold only 0.10% of the company’s stock.
• Verizon recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, representing an annualized yield of 6.29%, highlighting the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 19,266 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0%

VZ stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.10. 16,557,678 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,882,436. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).