MontVue Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MontVue Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,870 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,660 shares during the period. MontVue Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 7,502 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $497,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.58 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.24. The firm has a market cap of $183.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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. 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 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised 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 set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.25.

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).