Martin Capital Partners LLC Sells 78,624 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Martin Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 58.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,323 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 78,624 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 2.6% of Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $39.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).