Nilsine Partners LLC Has $1.03 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 346.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,512 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 19,027 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. SOL Capital Management CO lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the third quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 11,096 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 26.7% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 8,542 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.0% in the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 68,892 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The stock has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.21.

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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