Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Increased by Griffith & Werner Inc.

Griffith & Werner Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,974 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 3.2% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in 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 during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 5,732 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.82. 10,130,617 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,069,001. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $43.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.28. The company has a market cap of $184.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 6.18%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications 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).