First Merchants Corp Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

First Merchants Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,192 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $42.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $178.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).