Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,870 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,630 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.31. 10,759,940 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,841,270. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $165.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’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 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).