Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Reduced by Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 75.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,309 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 16,047 shares during the period. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,300,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,083,337,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 108,694,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,346,682,000 after buying an additional 7,421,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.26 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a market capitalization of $182.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’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 approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last three months. 0.10% 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).