Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,997 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.1% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,300,846,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $357,398,000 after acquiring an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,937,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1%

VZ stock opened at $41.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $173.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.99 and its 200 day moving average is $42.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).