Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 98,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000. Verizon Communications makes up about 4.6% of Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $38.93. The company had a trading volume of 17,383,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,097,910. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $163.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50-day moving average is $40.36 and its 200 day moving average is $38.74.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications 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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