Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Lessened by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 67,225 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,367 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,831 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westhampton Capital LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $203,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.0 %

VZ stock opened at $42.04 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $176.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average is $41.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).