Haverford Trust Co Sells 3,601 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Haverford Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,413,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,601 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $56,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of 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 period. Camden National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $258,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,459,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $65,567,000 after acquiring an additional 206,921 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,781,000. Finally, Towercrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $207,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.52 and a 200-day moving average of $42.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).