Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,223 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 370 shares during the quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven 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 a consensus target price of $47.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.6%

VZ stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.79. 4,064,528 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,084,661. 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 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.24 and a 200-day moving average of $42.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).