Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Hara Capital LLC

Hara Capital LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,795 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 31,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,451 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 13,703 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 79,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after buying an additional 4,418 shares in the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 156,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,277,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 931,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,258,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).