Garde Capital Inc. Acquires New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 30,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 7,676 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,593,000. Finally, ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.70 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

View Our Latest Research Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

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).

See Also

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