Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Hourglass Capital LLC

Hourglass Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,655 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 6,935 shares during the quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after buying an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $43.06. 16,723,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,125,631. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $43.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.25.

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).