Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Nemes Rush Group LLC

Nemes Rush Group LLC lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,189 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,063 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. StoneX Group Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 58,737 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 8,919 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,450,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,478 shares in the last quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 106,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,258,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 20,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 108,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $45.38 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.08. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. The stock has a market cap of $191.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 dividend yield of 5.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate 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).