Argentarii LLC Purchases 11,328 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Argentarii LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 161.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 11,328 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,039 shares during the period. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 46.1% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,969 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the first quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 16,222 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.62 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up 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, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

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).