Toroso Investments LLC Sells 35,477 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Toroso Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 174,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 35,477 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Edward Jones cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,132,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,658,152. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.04. The firm has a market cap of $141.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $31.25 and a one year high of $42.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).