Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 3,615 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,865 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,615 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. 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 cap of $181.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day moving average is $41.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

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).