Optivise Advisory Services LLC Sells 2,616 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Optivise Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,235 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,616 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $50,393,000 after buying an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,200,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $176.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.25.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business 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 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications 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).