Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Cable Hill Partners LLC

Cable Hill Partners LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,682 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,813 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 132.2% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,124 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 8,612 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 30,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.68.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 dividend yield of 6.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).