Ballast Inc. Has $635,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ballast Inc. cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% during the 4th 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 bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.95 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.34. The company has a market cap of $176.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 3.31 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.21.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).