Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 233.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 808,899 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 566,510 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $36,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's 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 now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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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