Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $3.85 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,799 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,424 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. 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 research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21. The company has a market capitalization of $178.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company 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%. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).