Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Liberty Wealth Management LLC

Liberty Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,735 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,486 shares during the quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 76,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 57,694 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,723 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 5,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 615,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,631,000 after buying an additional 5,351 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

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 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.23%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

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).