Arnhold LLC Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Arnhold LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 509,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 26,571 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.1% of Arnhold LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Arnhold LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $19,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.49. 20,216,529 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $166.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).