FDx Advisors Inc. Has $288,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FDx Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 846 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the first quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,079,000 after purchasing an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,075,431 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $82,996,000 after purchasing an additional 20,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $51,126,000 after purchasing an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued 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, Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.63 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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).