Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Sells 748 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,008,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,798,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.90.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).