Oder Investment Management LLC Sells 2,998 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oder Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,573 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,998 shares during the quarter. Oder Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,121,951 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $68,772,000 after purchasing an additional 637,138 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 324,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 164,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,319,000 after acquiring an additional 14,083 shares during the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 3,889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 152,458 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,941,000 after acquiring an additional 30,759 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.60. The company had a trading volume of 5,979,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,984,014. 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 current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.74. The company has a market capitalization of $166.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).