Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 71,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 23,969 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 14,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 12,474 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,265,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $47,727,000 after acquiring an additional 113,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

VZ stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,851,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,539,553. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $168.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications 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).