Verity & Verity LLC Buys 218,887 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 67.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 218,887 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 2.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of VZ opened at $43.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.30. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).