Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,795 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,541 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 33,223 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 17.4% in the first quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 6,106 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Court Place Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the first quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC now owns 12,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 38,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after buying an additional 3,684 shares during the period. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 217.6% in the 1st quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 86,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,913,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

VZ opened at $42.65 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $179.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. 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 6.35%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company 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).