D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. Sells 1,350 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,251 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the period. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HBC Financial Services PLLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 273.5% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 1,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 38.7% during the third quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 273.3% during the third quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,983,437. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 19th. Tigress Financial decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Cowen decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $37.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.86 and its 200-day moving average is $39.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.55 and a 1 year high of $55.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 24.60% and a net margin of 15.53%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.04%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.58%.

About Verizon Communications

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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.