Sfmg LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sfmg LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 124,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,989 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.77. The company had a trading volume of 14,016,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,262,630. The firm has a market cap of $167.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

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).