Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Cut by Forte Capital LLC ADV

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 69,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,013 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average is $38.79. The stock has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).