Nemes Rush Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nemes Rush Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,473 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,716 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.10 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $181.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial increased 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).