Little House Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Little House Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 7,898 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.32 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $43.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. 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 company has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

About Verizon Communications

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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