Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Has $224,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. SOL Capital Management CO raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 11,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 8,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 68,892 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.68. The company had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.46 and a 200 day moving average of $38.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 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 paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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).