Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Has $788,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,054 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 56.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 459,777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,649,000 after acquiring an additional 166,137 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,076,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $183,057,000 after buying an additional 910,447 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 11,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 2,207,024 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $99,117,000 after acquiring an additional 210,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

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).