Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 55.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,334,722 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 478,090 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $60,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications
In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.
Verizon Communications Price Performance
Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.84 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $42.75 and its 200 day moving average is $42.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.36.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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