Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,946 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,936 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Master S Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $425,000. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 26,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $620,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 568.3% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,273 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 29,995 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.92.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction 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 $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).