Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 2,508 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,056 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,508 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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

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).