Titleist Asset Management LLC Sells 1,167 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Titleist Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,046 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,167 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $55,783,000 after buying an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.11 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.68 and a 200 day moving average of $42.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).