Bfsg LLC Sells 8,067 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bfsg LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 108,211 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,067 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Ziegler Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 67,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 37,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 76,215 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 22,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company had a trading volume of 14,950,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,215,721. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).