Nexus Investment Management ULC Acquires 2,560 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,610 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,560 shares during the quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exeter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the first quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 92,029 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,174,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 131,364 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,959,000 after purchasing an additional 3,687 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 137,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 14,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.18. The company has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI raised 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 target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).