Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $29.56 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 651,685 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 11,875 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $29,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.12. 13,703,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,017,080. The firm has a market cap of $186.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).