Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,619 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $1,781,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 25,699 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 6,273 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 27,604 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,240,000 after buying an additional 2,843 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 51,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $183.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut 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 reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.53.

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).