Sfmg LLC Has $3.86 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sfmg LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,528 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $290,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,104,574 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $124,156,000 after purchasing an additional 50,559 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 398,977 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,955,000 after purchasing an additional 126,012 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $8,122,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $2,735,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).