Leisure Capital Management Has $200,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Leisure Capital Management reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,005 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 599 shares during the quarter. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,511,000 after buying an additional 55,411 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 20.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 58,804 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 10,183 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 60,403 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,713,000 after purchasing an additional 17,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.41 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).