Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 100.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 63,302 shares during the quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,473,557,000 after purchasing an additional 990,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note 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 MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.14. The stock had a trading volume of 20,387,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,655,386. The firm has a market cap of $181.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.48. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.28%. 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).