Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Has $3.98 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 400,898 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $18,185,000 after buying an additional 90,193 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 804,259 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $36,481,000 after acquiring an additional 9,887 shares during the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the first quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,304 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,366,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $404,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 110,767 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of VZ traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $41.63. 20,156,157 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,178,799. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

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).