Demars Financial Group LLC Sells 4,070 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Demars Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,853 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,070 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.4% of Demars Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 143,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,422,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,403 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 12,911 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,077,000 after acquiring an additional 33,474 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.72 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).