Pinnacle Holdings LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pinnacle Holdings LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,588 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,440,247 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $64,681,000 after acquiring an additional 12,580 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 29,925 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213 shares in the last quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 24.1% during the third quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 6,401 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,246,000. Finally, Frisch Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.09 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. 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 company has a market cap of $177.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.85.

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).