Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Sells 5,604 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,604 shares during the quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.50. 24,693,029 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,784,156. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.24. The company has a market cap of $170.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).