Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC Has $225,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 349 shares during the quarter. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $2,255,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $836,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 994,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,775,000 after purchasing an additional 77,162 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,751,000. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,710,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $68,419,000 after buying an additional 28,832 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.99 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $181.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.74 and a 200-day moving average of $41.99.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold 31,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).