Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 449 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,535 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,200,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.66 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $179.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.35%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Company 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).