Clarius Group LLC Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Clarius Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 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 owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.61 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).