RNC Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,648 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,570 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $174.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.31.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).