EdgeRock Capital LLC Takes $147,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,152,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $36,856,000 after acquiring an additional 153,485 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 43,139 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $521,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,827,584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $59,234,000 after buying an additional 246,475 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.31. The stock had a trading volume of 10,759,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,841,270. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).