Crescent Sterling Ltd. Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.4% of Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Shira Ridge Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,677,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

VZ stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $184.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).