74,862 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 74,862 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $2,821,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in 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 purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

VZ traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,079,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,741,629. The firm has a market cap of $166.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued 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 6.74%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

About Verizon Communications

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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