Oak Asset Management LLC Has $2.03 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,193 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.33 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. 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 company has a market cap of $182.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.26.

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

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).