Telos Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 67.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,050 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 6,841 shares during the quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.74. The stock had a trading volume of 10,354,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,141,291. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $175.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).