CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 2,422 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 137,949 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,422 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.24 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.93. The company has a market capitalization of $169.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. 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 earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).