World Equity Group Inc. Has $787,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

World Equity Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 46.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 15,250 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 6,975 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Lakeside Advisors INC. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Lakeside Advisors INC. now owns 5,485 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 55,837 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 $1,550,859.84. This represents 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 link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.70 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $43.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company 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, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

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).

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