Connors Investor Services Inc. Has $14.82 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Connors Investor Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 370,484 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,435 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.4% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,000 shares of company stock worth $969,340. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.94 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.59 and a 1 year high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $184.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.96.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.52%.

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).