Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 61.83% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. HSBC cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.44.
Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $32.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.64 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 15.85%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, July 7th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.35%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.78%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.30, for a total transaction of $275,335.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,526.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.21, for a total value of $130,961.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,862,918.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph J. Russo sold 7,585 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $311,526.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,267 shares of company stock worth $533,293 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
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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