Exeter Financial LLC Purchases 5,881 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Exeter Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,029 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 1.9% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake 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 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.30 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $43.56 and its 200 day moving average is $42.18. The company has a market capitalization of $182.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).