Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Lowered by Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,622 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,263 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.27. 9,690,760 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,029,590. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).