Cwm LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cwm LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,265,411 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,091 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $57,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $370,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $220,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 270.9% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% during the first quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial increased 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.0%

VZ opened at $41.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $175.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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 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 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

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).