Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by GM Advisory Group LLC

GM Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,852 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,607 shares during the quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $354,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 149,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,700,000 after buying an additional 33,900 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 6,388 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,122,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,156,000 after acquiring an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.92 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.98. The company has a market capitalization of $184.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications 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).