Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Triumph Capital Management

Triumph Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 68.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 37,966 shares during the quarter. Triumph Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WealthTrust Axiom LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.40. The company had a trading volume of 8,822,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,014,705. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.74.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

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).