Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Acquires 903 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 101,136 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.4% of Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $40.52 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).