Charles Schwab Trust Co Reduces Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Charles Schwab Trust Co lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 38.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,510 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 35,124 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 12,722 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 118,542 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,377,000 after acquiring an additional 26,359 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 11,195 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 305,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $13,858,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 note on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. The trade was a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $43.26. 12,081,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,030,822. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.26. The firm has a market cap of $182.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

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

About Verizon Communications

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).