McLean Asset Management Corp Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

McLean Asset Management Corp reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,636 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. InvesTrust boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. InvesTrust now owns 150,229 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,814,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 167,406 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,594,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 90,012 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after buying an additional 6,298 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 127,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,777,000 after buying an additional 21,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Planning Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 246,959 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,202,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.09 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).