Apella Capital LLC Has $754,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 40.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 50 day moving average price of $43.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research 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. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).