Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 46.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 21,392 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial boosted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $42.32 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.15 and a 200 day moving average of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).