Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 522,122 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,469 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Verizon Communications by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 600,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $23,994,000 after purchasing an additional 145,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,274,456 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $130,805,000 after purchasing an additional 285,433 shares in the last quarter. Rahlfs Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $591,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,488 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related 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 value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % 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 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).