Klingman & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Klingman & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,686 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $42.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $176.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).