Colonial Trust Advisors Sells 36,523 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Colonial Trust Advisors lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,296 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 36,523 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Financial Avengers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 69,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,106,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 10,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 258,954 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.85.

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).