Clare Market Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Clare Market Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,958 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NCM Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased 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 worth $419,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 5,732 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $182.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

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

About Verizon Communications

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).