Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Sells 2,889 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,028 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,889 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,636,000 after buying an additional 502,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $561,105,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.27%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).