TCTC Holdings LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TCTC Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 357,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 839 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.67 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

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).