Arlington Trust Co LLC Sells 2,536 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Arlington Trust Co LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,498 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,536 shares during the quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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 downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

VZ stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,846,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,059,174. The company has a market cap of $184.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.16 and its 200-day moving average is $42.23. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

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).