Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 7,455 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,455 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.88. The stock had a trading volume of 5,339,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,522,498. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.67%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).