Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Buys 6,780 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,104 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 6,780 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded down $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $43.13. 22,343,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,075,644. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.40 and its 200 day moving average is $42.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid 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 yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications 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).