SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Buys 830 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 65.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth 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. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $184.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).