Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 34,103 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,245,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,803,000 after buying an additional 154,789 shares during the period. Finally, Gray Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.11.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.69 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

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).