Santori & Peters Inc. Sells 290 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Santori & Peters Inc. reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Santori & Peters Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after buying an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,636,000 after buying an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,105,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).