Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,048 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 43,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 55,556 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.12 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $186.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).