Tradewinds LLC. Sells 1,911 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tradewinds LLC. lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,703 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the quarter. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,450,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,478 shares during the last quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 106,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,258,000 after buying an additional 4,154 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after buying an additional 20,214 shares during the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 108,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 5,061,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $202,415,000 after acquiring an additional 78,464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.40 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.24 and its 200 day moving average is $42.08. The company has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 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 Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by 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).