Tufton Capital Management Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tufton Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 21,536 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 23,162 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 312,013 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,763,000 after acquiring an additional 59,680 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 172,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,032 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 466,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $17,575,000 after acquiring an additional 28,213 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 8,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.91. The stock had a trading volume of 6,020,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,534,375. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $167.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.66%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).