Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 8,477 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,075 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,477 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.52 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Verizon Communications

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).