Clarus Group Inc. Sells 1,115 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Clarus Group Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,115 shares during the quarter. Clarus Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.15. 14,770,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,813,598. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.92. The company has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).