Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Decreased by Concentric Capital Strategies LP

Concentric Capital Strategies LP lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,108 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 37,893 shares during the quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $979,400 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.96. The stock has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 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).

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