Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Santori & Peters Inc.

Santori & Peters Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Santori & Peters Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Forbes J M & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 193,319 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,731,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 404,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 14,074 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 142,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,693,000 after buying an additional 20,452 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 154,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,176,000 after buying an additional 5,269 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.88 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently 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).