ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 41,989 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,989 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after buying an additional 7,502 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $497,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

VZ stock opened at $43.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $183.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $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.

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, 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 business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Company 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).