Persium Advisors LLC Has $786,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Persium Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,337 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.7% of Persium Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the period. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $381,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,333,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares during the period. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.82 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $184.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications 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 value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).