Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 46.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,591 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 21,392 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6,475.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 444,969 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $17,794,000 after purchasing an additional 438,202 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 178,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.32. 21,392,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,128,143. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

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. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).