Valmark Advisers Inc. Decreases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Valmark Advisers Inc. cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,898 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,179,000. Terril Brothers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 581,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,916,000 after acquiring an additional 269,845 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 72,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares during the period. Finally, Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 58,937 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.68. The stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The firm has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average of $38.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).