Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 35.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,063 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 13,029 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.63. 20,156,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,246,153. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.38. The company has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week 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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer increased 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. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Company 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).