Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Blueprint Investment Partners LLC

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,564 shares during the quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mosley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 14,691 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 20,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,389,000. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 59,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.00. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 issued 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).