Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Invests $219,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

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).