First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 349,590,768 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,273,960,000 after acquiring an additional 3,857,646 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 319,233,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,121,282,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133,547 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 165,028,281 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,266,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,454 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,876,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,358,991,000 after acquiring an additional 12,189,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 79,682,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,134,486,000 after acquiring an additional 562,742 shares in the last quarter. 61.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Verizon Communications Stock Performance
NYSE:VZ opened at $35.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.72 and a fifty-two week high of $52.18.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 7th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 50.78%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.21, for a total value of $130,961.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,918.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total value of $275,335.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,526.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.21, for a total transaction of $130,961.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,918.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,267 shares of company stock valued at $533,293. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.12.
About Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).
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