Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 21,991 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 545,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 21,991 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.70 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day moving average of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).