EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the 3rd quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after buying an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, 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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.43%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

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).