Powers Advisory Group LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,155 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.0% in the first quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 14.5% in the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 22,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 72,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 167,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,617,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.96 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. 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 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).