Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Ridgepath Capital Management LLC

Ridgepath Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 43.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,789 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 124,740 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 4.0% of Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Capital Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc. now owns 317,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,434,000 after buying an additional 25,156 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 127.0% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 184,170 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,798,000 after acquiring an additional 103,046 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,718,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,580 shares during the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,553,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $150,461,000 after purchasing an additional 315,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $47,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 98,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,238. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $516,373 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $44.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.68 and a 1 year high of $51.68. The stock has a market cap of $186.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 72.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.05.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and digital connectivity services. Through its consumer business, Verizon offers mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and other connected devices, home internet, fixed wireless access, and fiber-optic broadband services under the Fios brand.

Verizon also serves businesses, government agencies, and other organizations with wireless connectivity, private networks, internet and data services, managed communications, cloud and security solutions, and Internet of Things services.