Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,471 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.9% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 44,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 8,354 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 9,138 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $1,002,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $1,058,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day moving average is $41.52. 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 company has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).