Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by AllSquare Wealth Management LLC

AllSquare Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,790,000. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 172,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,760,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 199,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,968,000 after buying an additional 23,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 65.8% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,663,502 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $119,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,863 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.74 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 stock has a market capitalization of $184.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).