Meyer Handelman Co. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 1.8% of Meyer Handelman Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $50,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4%

VZ traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $43.92. 26,553,530 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,100,127. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.22. The company has a market cap of $185.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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).