Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,653 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.28. The company has a market cap of $184.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently 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).