Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Reduced by LifeSteps Financial Inc.

LifeSteps Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,441 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 431 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after acquiring an additional 113,032 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $41.96. The stock had a trading volume of 19,771,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,609,096. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.63 and a 200-day moving average of $37.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $176.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).