Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wills Financial Group Inc.

Wills Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,137 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,403 shares during the period. Wills Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.9% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 7,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 758,019 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,850,000 after buying an additional 9,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 31,420 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,000 shares of company stock valued at $969,340. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.93. The company had a trading volume of 11,278,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,361,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.96. 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 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).