Princeton Capital Management LLC Has $376,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Princeton Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 86.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,290 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 50,810 shares during the quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,557,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,882,436. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.48.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).