Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Lowered by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 300,739 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,538 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 248,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,253,000 after acquiring an additional 26,370 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 320,943 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,558,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 13,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Griffith & Werner Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. now owns 112,974 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $184.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.44 and a 200-day moving average of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).