Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 2,812 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,561 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.7% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first 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 period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth 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 period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.25.

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).