Latitude Advisors LLC Sells 1,631 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Latitude Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,445 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2%

VZ opened at $43.58 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.24. The firm has a market cap of $183.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 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 the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).