Front Row Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Front Row Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,062 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,824,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,549,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,823,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,862,441,000 after buying an additional 998,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,300,846,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $1,083,337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.40 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. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.08. The company has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).