Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by FLC Capital Advisors

FLC Capital Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 339,007,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,607,681,000 after buying an additional 5,910,739 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,509,733,000 after purchasing an additional 8,171,700 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.54. The company had a trading volume of 19,204,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,358,660. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average is $37.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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).