M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Buys 2,656 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.96 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $181.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.26.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).