Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,356 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 99.7% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 58,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after buying an additional 29,430 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 151.9% in the 3rd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 10,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 506.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 84,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,543,000 after buying an additional 70,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.73 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.67. The company has a market capitalization of $184.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).