World Investment Advisors Has $10.84 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,900 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 14,363 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares during the last quarter. 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.7%

VZ stock traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $42.80. The stock had a trading volume of 21,991,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,139,280. The firm has a market cap of $180.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $43.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

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).