S.A. Mason LLC Has $502,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

S.A. Mason LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,734 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,776 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBC Financial Services PLLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 273.5% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 1,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $58,000. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Cowen decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.63.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $262,763.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,983,437. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $36.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.55 and a 52-week high of $55.51. The firm has a market cap of $154.51 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 24.60%. The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a $0.6525 dividend. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.58%.

Verizon Communications Profile

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.