Moseley Investment Management Inc. Purchases 1,819 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Moseley Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,902 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. Nine research 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.28. The company has a market capitalization of $184.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. 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).