Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,771 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 367 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.99. The stock had a trading volume of 9,659,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,170,834. The firm has a market cap of $176.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).