Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,689 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after acquiring an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 9,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,974,352 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $88,668,000 after buying an additional 296,583 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the third quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,762 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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 cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on 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 owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents 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 worth $2,020,895 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).