Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Procyon Advisors LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,697 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.72. 2,727,968 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,060,770. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.52 and its 200-day moving average is $37.31. The firm has a market cap of $175.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

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).