HF Advisory Group LLC Has $4.08 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HF Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 16,823 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.8% of HF Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. HF Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $43.26. 12,081,426 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,030,822. The company's fifty day moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average is $42.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $182.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).