Sandy Spring Bank Sells 6,539 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,233 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,539 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %

VZ opened at $40.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).