TFR Capital LLC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,164 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Verizon Communications
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 value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
NYSE VZ traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.73. 5,551,256 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,189,130. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. 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 fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The company 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 $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Bank of America started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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