Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $694,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,824 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 7,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 197,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,894,000 after purchasing an additional 5,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,928 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $182.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is 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).