Aviance Capital Partners LLC Acquires 1,418 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on 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 $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $183.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).