Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC

Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,108 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after buying an additional 78,995,341 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,273,000 after buying an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 175,039,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,509,733,000 after buying an additional 8,171,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $540,193,000 after buying an additional 4,756,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.95. 19,763,083 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,343,715. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.34. The firm has a market cap of $176.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.86.

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).