Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,104 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,780 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now directly owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9%

VZ stock opened at $43.74 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.40 and its 200 day moving average is $42.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $184.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. 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).