Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,128 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.68. 18,246,244 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,678,804. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.46 and its 200 day moving average is $38.51. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $166.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).