Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Sells 5,506 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,365 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,506 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 80.5% in the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 21,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 9,441 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 111.6% in the third quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 12,512 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 6,598 shares in the last quarter. Edmp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.3% in the third quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 34,014 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 5,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.5 %

VZ traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.49. The company had a trading volume of 20,216,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,158,723. The company has a market capitalization of $166.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).