Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Chatham Capital Group Inc.

Chatham Capital Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 32.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,335 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,580 shares during the quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,602,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $362,027,000 after purchasing an additional 341,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE VZ opened at $41.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).