Griffin Asset Management Inc. Buys 3,826 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,705 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,826 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).