Retirement Guys Formula LLC Has $1.25 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Retirement Guys Formula LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 439.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,669 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 22,537 shares during the period. Retirement Guys Formula LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 45,452 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 9,220 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 48,042 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,179,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 109,575 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,851 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,032,000 after purchasing an additional 5,401 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.32. The stock had a trading volume of 21,392,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,128,143. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).