Stonegate Investment Group LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 144,250 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 15,417 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 6,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Lakeside Advisors INC. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Lakeside Advisors INC. now owns 5,485 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 55,837 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $328,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued 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 target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.21.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).

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