Next Level Private LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Next Level Private LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,170 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,674 shares during the quarter. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Insider Activity

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

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.96 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average of $37.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

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).