Jag Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jag Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,859 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 841 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.11.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.75.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).