CFO4Life Group LLC Acquires 313 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CFO4Life Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,999,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $167,836,000 after purchasing an additional 19,454 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 298,620 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,530,000 after acquiring an additional 13,422 shares in the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 217,814 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 16,937 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.23.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,418,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,638,787. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.42 and a 200 day moving average of $40.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).