IHT Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

IHT Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 84,401 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 31,000 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 203.7% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 111,288 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 74,648 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 6,530,138 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $261,142,000 after acquiring an additional 73,597 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,851 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 741,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,663,000 after purchasing an additional 117,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 251,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.99. The company has a market capitalization of $180.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.92.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% 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).