Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 8,005 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,999 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 8,005 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. 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. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,385,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,227,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $172.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).