Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Synergy Asset Management LLC

Synergy Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,317 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 18,223 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its position 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 during the period. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,200,000. Finally, Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised 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. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, 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. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

VZ stock opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).