Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 15,817 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Carret Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,566 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,817 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $307,000. Acas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $227,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 554,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,897,000 after buying an additional 10,018 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 333,208 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,562,000 after buying an additional 56,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,942,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share 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. Stockholders 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 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

About Verizon Communications

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).