Gray Wealth Management Inc. Sells 1,425 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,358 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after acquiring an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,829,675,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $40.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,497,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,699,906. The stock has a market cap of $168.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day moving average of $38.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).