Drive Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,108 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Drive Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,382 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,862,441,000 after acquiring an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,351,000 after buying an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,851,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,473,557,000 after buying an additional 990,775 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,418,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,096,447,000 after buying an additional 1,348,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.35.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.10 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $181.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 63.17%.

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).