Realta Investment Advisors Has $675,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Realta Investment Advisors lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,309 shares during the quarter. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.59 and a one year high of $47.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.36.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

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).