Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Increased by Everpar Advisors LLC

Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,062 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,793 shares during the quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.8% in the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

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

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).