ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,639 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 41,989 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.25.
Read Our Latest Analysis on VZ
Verizon Communications Price Performance
Shares of VZ traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.62. 10,301,320 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,121,261. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.24. The company has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.
About Verizon Communications
(
Free Report)
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).
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