ABLE Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ABLE Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 15,660 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Axis Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,200,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,079,000 after buying an additional 107,200 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $82,996,000 after buying an additional 20,610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Tigress Financial upped their price target 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.3%

VZ stock opened at $43.30 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $182.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).