Fragasso Group Inc. Has $4.87 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 3rd, 2023

Verizon Communications logo Fragasso Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,516 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,922 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 110,134 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,339,000 after buying an additional 8,892 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 271,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 81,045 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,193,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266 shares during the period. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 134,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,280,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 12,560 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.96% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

VZ stock opened at $38.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.55 and a 1-year high of $55.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6525 per share. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.58%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $262,763.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares in the company, valued at $2,983,437. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,342 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $126,996.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,901,490. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $262,763.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares in the company, valued at $2,983,437. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,767 shares of company stock worth $618,191. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Cowen decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upgraded Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.11.

About Verizon Communications

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.