Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,136 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 925 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.21. The firm has a market cap of $176.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

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).