Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 567,635 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 260,178 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after acquiring an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 132.2% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 8,612 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 30,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.16 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $181.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).