Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Autumn Glory Partners LLC

Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,277 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 12,760 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.4% of Autumn Glory Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Autumn Glory Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $41.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $175.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company's 50-day moving average price is $43.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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).

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