Salvus Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Salvus Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 12,722 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 118,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,377,000 after purchasing an additional 26,359 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 11,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 305,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,858,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $203,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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. The company 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 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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).