Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,771 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Certified Advisory Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.99. The company had a trading volume of 9,659,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,170,834. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average is $37.31. The company has a market capitalization of $176.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays boosted 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. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

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).