Assetmark Inc. Buys 62,277 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,214,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,277 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $145,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,947,646 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $88,345,000 after acquiring an additional 126,559 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 705,132 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,985,000 after acquiring an additional 27,235 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 100.9% in the first quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 63,302 shares during the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,120,000. Finally, Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the first quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 74,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.88 and its 200-day moving average is $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

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).