Private Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Private Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,589 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,491 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,179,000. Terril Brothers Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 86.6% during the fourth quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 581,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,916,000 after purchasing an additional 269,845 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,104,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 72,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 58,937 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.56.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased 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 report on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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).