Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 218,887 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 67.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542,058 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 218,887 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 2.2% of Verity & Verity LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised 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. Scotiabank upped their target price 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 lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.96. The stock had a trading volume of 13,542,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,080,628. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG 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 company's 50-day moving average is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.30.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).