Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 3,100 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fiduciary Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,109 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,897,699 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $75,889,000 after acquiring an additional 41,384 shares during the last quarter. Credit Capital Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Credit Capital Investments LLC now owns 170,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 9,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,745,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.92 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $184.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 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 6.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% 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).