Vigilare Wealth Management Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Vigilare Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the period. Vigilare Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 27,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 6,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 66,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WILLIAM ALLAN Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. WILLIAM ALLAN Corp now owns 6,407 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 6,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $228,431.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,672.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

VZ opened at $36.79 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.55 and a 12 month high of $55.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 24.60% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.09%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.58%.

Verizon Communications Profile

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.