Private Management Group Inc. Has $42.98 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Private Management Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,139,927 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 35,791 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.6% of Private Management Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Private Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $42,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.69. 25,970,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,270,385. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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