Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 522,448 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,056 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Bridge Advisors grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 23,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Waterway Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. now owns 9,132 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 4,055 shares during the period. Motco grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 121,496 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,859,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 81,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s 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).