Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by First Bancorp Inc ME

First Bancorp Inc ME decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,209 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,352 shares during the quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company 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 note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total value of $329,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.59 and a fifty-two week high of $47.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.21. The company has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).