Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Makes New $62.62 Million Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,380,512 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $62,620,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.0% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st 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. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.58. 18,298,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,112,835. The company has a market capitalization of $183.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $43.16 and its 200 day moving average is $42.23. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share 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 given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).