Central Valley Advisors LLC Sells 3,791 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Central Valley Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $184.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.42 and its 200 day moving average is $42.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).