Westchester Capital Management Inc. Sells 284 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Westchester Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 43.9% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 12,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 3,772 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $666,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 588.2% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,969 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 29,033 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.51 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.89.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).