Maridea Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Maridea Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 113.8%, owning 13,284 shares valued at approximately $603,000.
• Several hedge funds also raised their positions in Verizon, including Pacer Advisors Inc., which increased its investment by a staggering 737.5%.
• Verizon reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.22, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $34.50 billion, a 5.2% increase year-over-year.

Maridea Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 113.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,284 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 7,071 shares during the quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position 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 valued at $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm'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 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. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.10 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.86 and its 200 day moving average is $42.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $181.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

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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