Community Financial Services Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Community Financial Services Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,529 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.10 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56. The company has a market capitalization of $170.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).