HF Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,873 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

HF Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,664 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,873 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $39.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,667,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,491,369. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.54 and its 200 day moving average is $38.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s 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 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 accessible through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).