FSC Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,108 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 580 shares during the quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 174.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,816,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,625,604. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.21.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).