Vicus Capital lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,097 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. SkyOak Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 116,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 52,337 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 826,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $32,157,000 after purchasing an additional 31,881 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 191,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 52,719 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 5,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.83% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total value of $275,335.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,526.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Verizon Communications Price Performance
Verizon Communications stock opened at $33.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $142.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.25 and a 1 year high of $46.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.86.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $32.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.64 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 7th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.78%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.33.
Verizon Communications Profile
Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).
See Also
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