SFE Investment Counsel Has $238,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 43,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 19,738 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 341,788 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,885,000 after acquiring an additional 112,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 23,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.18. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. 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 company has a market cap of $167.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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).