Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Hengehold Capital Management LLC

Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,558 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.28. The firm has a market cap of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine equities research 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, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).