Excalibur Management Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Excalibur Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,796 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.6% of Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Core Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 21,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 42,523 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,603 shares during the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 193,781 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,749,000 after purchasing an additional 62,383 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 70.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 42,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 17,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 38,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.04. The company has a market capitalization of $182.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

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).