NBW Capital LLC Sells 725 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

NBW Capital LLC decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,799 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after acquiring an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $40.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.18. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Company 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).