Mendel Capital Management LLC Buys 1,652 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mendel Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 6,475.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 444,969 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $17,794,000 after purchasing an additional 438,202 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $576,000. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 178,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $42.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors 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 yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).