Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Raised by Focus Financial Network Inc.

Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,213 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,265 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $728,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, Fortress Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $387,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.31.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).