Red Spruce Capital LLC Sells 14,397 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Red Spruce Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,243 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 14,397 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.5% of Red Spruce Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Red Spruce Capital LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth 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. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, reaching $43.92. The stock had a trading volume of 26,553,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,175,397. The business's 50-day moving average price is $43.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.21. 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 stock has a market cap of $185.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 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 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).