Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Ballast Inc.

Ballast Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,856 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in 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 in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.37 billion, a P/E 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

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).