Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,721 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 11,643 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $43.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $177.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

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. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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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