Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC Sells 976 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 976 shares during the quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.71 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $179.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.35%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Nine 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications 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).