Avalon Trust Co Sells 704 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Avalon Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $77,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% in the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after buying an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.89. 13,195,563 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).