Jacobs & Co. CA Sells 535 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jacobs & Co. CA lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZFree Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,664 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 535 shares during the quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Verizon Communications by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 17,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $332,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 25,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.17.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Free Report)

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).

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

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