Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.

Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 728 shares during the quarter. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $346,000 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. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 154,652 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $458,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 556.6% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $924,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 25,024 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

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).