TrueMark Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TrueMark Investments LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 71.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 333,088 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 139,307 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 4.0% of TrueMark Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. TrueMark Investments LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,200,000. Finally, Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day moving average of $42.21. The firm has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. 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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