Grassi Investment Management Sells 4,194 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Grassi Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,882 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,194 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Community Trust NA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 3,959 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 28,673 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 13,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,845,000. Finally, Stillwater Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Stillwater Investment Management LLC now owns 53,220 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. 60.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $36.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $55.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 51.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $262,763.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,983,437. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Profile

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.