Krilogy Financial LLC Purchases 2,833 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $181.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).