Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 767 shares during the quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.51.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

About Verizon Communications

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).