Penbrook Management LLC Acquires 700 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Penbrook Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,171 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.8% of Penbrook Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Penbrook Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 4,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.9% in the first quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 144,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,889,000 after purchasing an additional 23,960 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 34,134 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 62.5% in the first quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 15,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 30,767 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,291,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.64 on Tuesday, hitting $41.10. The company had a trading volume of 20,110,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,927,629. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.13 and a 200-day moving average of $40.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications 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).