Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Reduced by Gray Wealth Management Inc.

Gray Wealth Management Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,358 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the period. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $40.13. 17,497,934 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,699,906. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.17. The firm has a market cap of $168.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 6.63%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 96.38%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).