Scotia Capital Inc. Has $21.20 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Scotia Capital Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 529,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 75,314 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the third quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 69,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $2,106,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 258,954 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.85.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $180.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).