Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Colonial Trust Advisors

Colonial Trust Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,296 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 36,523 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

Remove Ads

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.51 on Monday, reaching $44.24. 9,763,408 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,095,572. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $186.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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).