Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 258,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,827 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $40.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,706,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,407,915. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.56 and a 200-day moving average of $38.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $170.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

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).