Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 3,971 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,137 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,971 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.61. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).