Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 13,261 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 80,592 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,261 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.68. The company had a trading volume of 18,246,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.46 and its 200-day moving average is $38.61. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. 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 payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’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 owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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).