Solitude Financial Services Sells 7,600 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Solitude Financial Services cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,600 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.4% of Solitude Financial Services’ holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Solitude Financial Services’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,231 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 11,896 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 43,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $1,866,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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 Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $46.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.84. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $46.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).