Steph & Co. Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Steph & Co. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,334 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 899 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 124,152 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,965,000 after buying an additional 24,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,928 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $179.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.38.

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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.52%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications

About Verizon Communications

(Free Report)

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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