Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by SGL Investment Advisors Inc.

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 76.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,025 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 22,990 shares during the quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $497,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,418,052 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,096,447,000 after buying an additional 1,348,389 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 378,643 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,142,000 after buying an additional 40,474 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,915,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $14,100,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.5%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.01. The company has a market capitalization of $183.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. 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 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.24%. 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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