Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Sells 3,564 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,564 shares during the quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 31,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.52 and its 200 day moving average is $42.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).