Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 115,362 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,367 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,105,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average of $41.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).