Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Lowered by Jmac Enterprises LLC

Jmac Enterprises LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,471 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,484 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.10 and a 200-day moving average of $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. 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 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).