Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,854 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 12,605 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $381,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake 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 valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $1,200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of VZ traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $42.96. 13,542,192 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,080,646. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day moving average is $43.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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).