Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Sells 12,998 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,581 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,998 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crescent Sterling Ltd. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. 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. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.32. The stock had a trading volume of 21,392,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,128,143. The stock has a market cap of $178.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. 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 one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.15 and a 200-day moving average of $42.21.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Verizon Communications 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).