Schnieders Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,386 shares during the quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 13,018 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 67,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 196,826 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,379,000 after purchasing an additional 17,196 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 30,439 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 12,812 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $1.09 on Tuesday, reaching $39.69. 25,970,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,270,385. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.52 and a 200-day moving average of $38.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% 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).