Retirement Planning Group LLC Sells 344 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Retirement Planning Group LLC cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,874 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 344 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 now owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,500 shares of company stock worth $1,376,300. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.10. The company has a market capitalization of $181.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during 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%. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

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).