Bailard Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bailard Inc. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 95,167 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,315 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.35. 9,774,796 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,092,658. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.51 and a 200-day moving average of $38.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.76%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).