Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Lowered by Grassi Investment Management

Grassi Investment Management lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 89,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,079,000 after buying an additional 16,823 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 10.1% during the first quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC now owns 9,958 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.3% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 7,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 23,134 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $182.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).