WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,851 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,760 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.55. The stock has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. 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 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).