PSI Advisors LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. CRA Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note 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 note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.85 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business 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 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).