Smith Moore & CO. Sells 3,858 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,858 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 74.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,012 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $464,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.6% in the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 37,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 5,340 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $723,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 56.6% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 459,777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,649,000 after purchasing an additional 166,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % 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 valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

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).