Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Vigilare Wealth Management

Vigilare Wealth Management decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the period. Vigilare Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adviser Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the third quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $735,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 41,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,584,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 91,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,455,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 61,247 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 7,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.96% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $36.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.55 and a 1 year high of $55.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6525 dividend. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 6,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $228,431.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,672.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Get Rating)

Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.