Procyon Advisors LLC Acquires 18,779 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 55.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,564 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 18,779 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).

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