Bank of Stockton Sells 409 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bank of Stockton lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

VZ stock opened at $42.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.90 and a 200-day moving average of $41.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).