Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC

Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,403 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $306,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.1% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 183,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,951,000 after acquiring an additional 35,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.96. 19,771,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,609,096. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).