ORG Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ORG Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 75.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,067 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 24,613 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).

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