Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. Purchases New Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,448 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE VZ opened at $40.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously 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 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

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).