Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Sells 42,863 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,572 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 42,863 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 149.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 125,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,954,000 after purchasing an additional 74,974 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 11,735 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the period. Finally, MBA Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 15,781 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.3%

VZ stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.42 and a 200 day moving average of $42.28. The firm has a market cap of $184.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. 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. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average 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).