Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 378,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 33,100 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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, March 3rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.74 on Friday. 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 cap of $184.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).