Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 34,786 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).