Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,737 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

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).