Lyell Wealth Management LP Sells 384 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lyell Wealth Management LP lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,977 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 93,461 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 508,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,156,000 after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 34,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,682 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. Finally, Acas LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.6 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,481,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,101,189. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $165.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.51 and a 200-day moving average of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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).