Janney Capital Management LLC Has $13.14 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Janney Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 289,607 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,513 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $175.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.24.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).