Freedom Together Foundation Sells 27,000 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Freedom Together Foundation lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 79.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 27,000 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 0.0% of Freedom Together Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Freedom Together Foundation’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 31,672 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 12,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. First International Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 7,046 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,062,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,483,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.74 and its 200-day moving average is $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

About Verizon Communications

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).