GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 5,304 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,740 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,304 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in 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 period. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS 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 given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

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

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).