Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 940,057 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 8,362 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 0.9% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 36.8% in the first quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 27,939 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,521 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 37,251 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 178,787 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 23.0% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 18,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 directly owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $41.28. 15,638,440 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,227,309. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average price is $43.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.41. The company has a market capitalization of $174.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released 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 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

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).