DGS Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DGS Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,496 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,772 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $540,193,000 after buying an additional 4,756,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after buying an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.16. The company has a market capitalization of $167.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).