Dupree Financial Group LLC Acquires 144,432 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dupree Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 114.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,891 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 144,432 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 5.0% of Dupree Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Dupree Financial Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Interchange Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $241,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 134,651 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $6,108,000 after buying an additional 25,729 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.7% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 824,547 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $37,401,000 after buying an additional 51,674 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR raised its position in Verizon Communications by 13.2% during the first quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 8,562 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.2% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 191,878 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,704,000 after acquiring an additional 33,628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $43.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).

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