Marco Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Marco Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,407 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,307 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in 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. SOL Capital Management CO raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the third quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 11,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 26,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the third quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 30,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.68. The stock had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The company has a market capitalization of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).