Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Slagle Financial LLC

Slagle Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,781,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 6,909 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 284,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,779,000 after buying an additional 5,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.3% during the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 16,165 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.99 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.98 and a 200 day moving average of $42.07. 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 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. 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 6.02%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently 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).