Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 466,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 39,364 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $ 24,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 491,456 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 25,536,000 after buying an additional 28,710 shares in the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 14,495 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 753,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $ 938,000. Maltin Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Maltin Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 1,406,000 after buying an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab AS lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab AS now owns 746,708 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $ 38,799,000 after buying an additional 282,313 shares in the last quarter. 63.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $ 61.00 to $ 55.00 in a report on Monday, April 25th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $ 44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $ 60.00 to $ 51.00 and set a “peer perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $ 57.20.
NYSE VZ opened at $ 49.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $ 50.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $ 51.83. The company has a market capitalization of $ 205.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $ 45.55 and a 12 month high of $ 56.85.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $ 1.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $ 1.35. The firm had revenue of $ 33.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the estimate consensus of $ 33.61 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 28.15%. The company revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $ 1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 8th will be given a $ 0.64 dividend. This represents a $ 2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 7th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.71%.
In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Tami A. Erwin sold 23,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 49.77, for a total transaction of $ 1,176,911.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,817 shares of the company stock, valued at approximately $ 1,085,832.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $ 52.00, for a total transaction of $ 81,016.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,077 shares in the company, valued at $ 1,980,004. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,321 shares of company stock worth $ 1,415,192 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Verizon Communications Company Profile: (Get Rating)
Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.
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