Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 94,700 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,130,650 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 94,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $51,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of VZ opened at $42.94 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $42.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.77. The company has a market cap of $181.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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).

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