Tilson Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,728 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tilson Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,448 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,728 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $46.13 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $46.20. The firm has a market cap of $194.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.83. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).