Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $1.29 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Montag A & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 43.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,320 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 21,497 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in 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 buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in 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 buying an additional 4,568,518 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price target 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.11. The company had a trading volume of 8,734,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,133,189. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $42.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.46. The stock has a market cap of $181.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).