Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Salvus Wealth Management LLC

Salvus Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.9% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 12,722 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 28.6% in the first quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 118,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,377,000 after purchasing an additional 26,359 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 11,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 305,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,858,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.26. The company has a market capitalization of $182.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).