SPC Financial Inc. Sells 7,723 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,204 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,723 shares during the quarter. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after acquiring an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Solitude Financial Services grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 27,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,759 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 73,592 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).