Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,283 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 748 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,008,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,798,520. The firm has a market cap of $164.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.90. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. 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 was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).