Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Members Capital Advisors Inc.

Members Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 85.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,844 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.3% of Members Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Members Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. 15,942,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).