Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,412 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 11,953 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8%

VZ traded down $0.33 on Wednesday, hitting $43.17. The company had a trading volume of 12,764,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,178,426. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.16. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

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).