Calamos Advisors LLC Has $31.28 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 829,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,399 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $31,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 594,918 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $22,428,000 after purchasing an additional 39,530 shares during the period. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 8,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 43,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 19,738 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,545,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,501,754. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day moving average of $38.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $169.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).