Trust Point Inc. Sells 3,709 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Trust Point Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,198 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,709 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $42.96 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).