Insight Advisors LLC PA Has $704,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Insight Advisors LLC PA cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 503 shares during the period. Insight Advisors LLC PA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.14 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $40.44 and a 200-day moving average of $41.54. The company has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).