Inscription Capital LLC Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 23,318 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $978,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $42.48 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 firm has a market cap of $179.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).