IFG Advisory LLC Sells 20,040 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

IFG Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,211 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 20,040 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.7 %

VZ stock opened at $41.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $174.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.31. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.21. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The business had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).