London Co. of Virginia Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,965 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,839 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.99 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $181.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.74 and a 200 day moving average of $41.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.30%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).