Norden Group LLC Sells 2,081 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Norden Group LLC lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,686 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,081 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).