Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Sells 15,556 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 76,277 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,556 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 8,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 195,114 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,803,000 after buying an additional 55,325 shares during the last quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,415,062 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $296,730,000 after buying an additional 1,313,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kahn Brothers Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. now owns 11,476 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $181.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.74 and a 200-day moving average of $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).