Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 50,009 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Western Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 47.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,622 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 50,009 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $14,549,343,000 after buying an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $2,300,846,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after buying an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Nine 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.10 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.62 and a 200-day moving average of $42.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).

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